Carnegie Mellon vs Columbia

anon012

lime1945Make sure to look at prop trading in Chicago. Many people forget about it, but I think it's one of the brightest places in finance

None of these colleges are very near Chicago. I was referring to Columbia University in NYC. Sorry for not being specific.

If a bank wants to hire a computer scientist for trading or a quant job, do they go to the top computer science schools (CMU, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley) or do they go to the Ivy League? I don't understand why top Wall Street firms don't recruit at CMU.

They do. But they generally plan on allocating more spots to Columbia. So If you're in Fu @ Columbia, you're one of 350 kids in your year, vs one of 1500 at CMU. Throw in your comp sci major as well, and you're a helluva standout at Columbia, vs. one of plenty at CMU. Plus, I imagine the strongest students at CMU generally go CS, so assuming a departmental curve, you're now competing directly with the best CS students in the country for that 3.67. At Columbia, you're more likely to be a stronger relative performer within the CS major. Big fish in a small pond, my friend - it's not often that you get to apply that maxim to Columbia.

Of course, on top of all of this: you're in NYC, yielding almost infinitely better access to networking and off-cycle/informal internships. My single regret of going to school in bumblefuck, northern New England - NYC is a 5 hour haul. I've got an interview in Midtown this week, I have to miss an entire day of classes to make it.. add to that the number of interviews which conflicted with exam days or were otherwise impossible. If you're at Columbia, you're far more flexible, you can literally pound pavement, and if you're scrappy your odds at getting a job on the Street, or in whatever else you want to do really, are dramatically higher.

But at the end of the day, you're the one who has to sleep at night. If there is something intangible about CMU, or something specific that I didn't consider, or I've misinterpreted your goals - point being, if CMU is the place for you, then absolutely go there. Don't hesitate. But if your primary target is a job on a BB trading desk, or at a Quant Hedge, or whatever Wall Street job is your dream, then you might want to closely consider Columbia.

BigBucks

seedy underbellyCMU = Columbia rejects.

Cornell = Columbia rejects.

Columbia = A legitimate top-5 in the nation school. .

Yale is a legit top 3 school, should he go there instead of a Cal-Tech/CMU/MIT for engineering? Generalities like this serve absolutely no purpose when speaking on specific programs.

Yes, if OP wanted finance.

BigBucks

seedy underbellyCMU = Columbia rejects.

Cornell = Columbia rejects.

Columbia = A legitimate top-5 in the nation school. .

Yale is a legit top 3 school, should he go there instead of a Cal-Tech/CMU/MIT for engineering? Generalities like this serve absolutely no purpose when speaking on specific programs.

Yes, because he is 17 and has no idea what the real world computer science/finance/life is like. Columbia gives him just as good of an option if he continues down his current path, and better options if he changes his mind.